


Pleasantly Unexpected

by OmnipresentNuance



Category: The Loud House (Cartoon)
Genre: Bonding, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmnipresentNuance/pseuds/OmnipresentNuance
Summary: Lincoln pays a visit to the Santiago residence in the hopes of seeing Bobby or Ronnie Anne. However, neither of them are home and instead it is only their mother, Maria, who is available. Because of the unusual circumstance, the singular Loud boy and the Santiago matriarch use this time to have a get-to-know-you session together that turns surprisingly deep and emotional.
Kudos: 3





	Pleasantly Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, hope you are all having a...pleasant day if I do say so myself.
> 
> You've come to expect some sort of extravagant backstory and/or me explaining the inspiration behind a lot of what I write. I don't really have that this time around. All I'll really say is that I find the idea of the two characters involved here being together, talking and generally bonding makes for such an adorable concept.
> 
> However, there is something else I do believe is worth bringing up that's unrelated to this story. I'm proud to say that it was right around this time last year that I happily and officially became a Loud House fan. I wouldn't be able to tell the exact date, but I do know it was during the middle of or about the beginning of the latter third of last April that everything came into place. Since that time, I cannot tell you any other series that I've had this much investment in. The show itself may have brought me in, but it has been the countless wonderful fanfiction and fanart depictions that has only kept my adoration ever sustained and growing by leaps and bounds, which I'm proud to say I'm also contributing on my end at least on the fanfiction front. This show is what resurrected my long dormant fanfiction writing skills and interest, so I can't thank it enough. Speaking of thanks, I want to extend a lovely thank you to all the fan artists and fanfiction authors I've become fans of for their amazing work, and thanks for everyone who takes the time to read and appreciate what I do as well. There's nothing in the world I love doing more than this and I do not plan to stop anytime soon. I've got a long, long, long road ahead of me and I'm gonna love every second of the journey with everyone who chooses to follow along with me.
> 
> Well...if you thought that preceding paragraph had a lot of sweet, sappy and saccharine character to it, wait until you read what lies ahead. Enjoy!
> 
> The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.

One fine afternoon like many others was settling in within the town of Royal Woods.

On this particular day and this very moment, Lincoln Loud was taking a walk by himself in the neighborhood to get a break from the house for a while, for as much as he loved his family, even he needed some time apart from them on occasion. He had no exact plans for what he'd do along the way, but just wanted to clear his head and take in some semblance of tranquility for the time being.

But as he traveled along, Lincoln found himself approaching a very familiar house. Specifically, it's the one his friend Ronnie Anne and her brother and Lincoln's "honorary bro" Bobby call home. He smiled and thought since he's around, he may as well pay them a surprise visit.

Lincoln rounded up the walkway leading up to the front door of the Santiago household and then he knocked on it.

At first, no one answered, which Lincoln found to be an odd peculiarity. He tried knocking again and still nothing. Finally, he chose to ring the doorbell and at long last, a frustrated verbal response could be heard within after a few more passing seconds.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming! God dang, I..."

The door opened up rather suddenly and Maria Santiago showed herself with an annoyed, drowsy expression on her face, though it did soften up once she saw who'd been trying to make his presence known.

"Oh, um...Lincoln. You're not who expected to be at the door." Maria said.

"Hi there, Mrs. Santiago." Lincoln greeted, "Uh, is this a bad time and hey, are you doing okay?"

Maria grunted and rubbed her eyes, "Oh, no, it's not and yeah, I'm doing fine. Sorry, it's just that I dozed off a little while ago and when I heard all that knocking and the doorbell ringing, it was sort of a rude awakening for me. Plus, I thought at first whoever might've been at the door could've been anyone from a pushy door-to-door salesman to perhaps one of those tacky political volunteers who ask people if they're registered to vote, so that didn't exactly help my mood, either."

"Oh, well, sorry to have woken you up." Lincoln said regretfully.

"No, no, it's fine and actually knowing it's you does does lighten up my mood by a decent amount." Maria expressed more warmly.

For a couple of seconds, all Lincoln could respond was through a pair of bashful laughs as he also rubbed the back of his head, which did make Maria smile.

"Anyway…" She resumed speaking, "I'm guessing you were coming here to see Bobby or Ronnie Anne perhaps?"

Lincoln nodded, "Yeah, although it really wasn't my plan at first. I was simply out on a stroll and happened to come across your house, so I thought I'd be nice to make an impromptu visit should it be no trouble."

"Well, that is nice of you to do." Maria acknowledged, though a frown soon came across her face, "However, neither of them are home right now and actually won't be for quite a while."

"They aren't? Why is that?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh, because they're out having a nice, long day of bonding together." Maria explained, "They left only about 20 minutes ago, which is also right around the same time I dozed off. Anyway, like I said, they won't be back home for a good long while to come and I do believe they said maybe around about 4:00, so I'm sorry if you were really hoping to hang out with them."

"Oh...well, that's all right, Mrs. Santiago." Lincoln said with a hint of disappointment, "Sorry to have bothered you in any event. Guess I'll just be on my way..."

He began to turn and was just about to leave. However, before he could take one step, Maria spoke up.

"Actually, Lincoln, wait a moment." She said.

He turned back around and looked to see something of guilty expression on her face.

"I'd hate to give you the impression that I'm turning you away, and you did put the effort in visiting, so...why don't you come on in for a while?" Maria offered, smiling at the end.

"Oh...well, I wouldn't want to impose or anything like that." Lincoln said, surprised by such an invitation.

Maria shook her head, "No, it's not a problem at all. Besides, if I'm being honest, I would really like some company right about now and I'd think you'd help out in that sense quite well. So what do you say?"

Though the whole proposition was a little strange at first, Lincoln did start to gradually warm up to the idea. For as much as he's hung out with both Bobby and Ronnie Anne, he really hasn't gotten to know their mother all that well, and ultimately this sounded like as good an opportunity as ever to do just that.

"You know what, Mrs. Santiago? After giving some additional thought just now...I think I'll take you up on that." He said more convinced now.

"Great!" Maria stated perhaps a little more excitedly than she meant to, "Well, come on in."

She opened the door and allowed Lincoln to step on inside the house, then she guided him over to the living room where he took at seat on the couch.

"Make yourself at home and if you don't mind waiting for a minute, I'm going to start making myself a cup of coffee to help wake me up a little more." Maria said, "I'd ask if you would want some, but something tells me otherwise."

Lincoln chuckled, "And you would be right. I have actually tried having coffee before, but it didn't turn out well. But I still wouldn't mind having a drink if that was what you were planning on getting me, too."

"Sure. I'll see what I can find."

With that, Maria headed off for the kitchen while Lincoln gladly took her suggestion and kicked back on the couch in the meantime.

Just only half a minute later, Maria returned with a glass in her hand.

"Here, I think some sweet iced tea could do the trick." She said, "I just remembered having a whole pitcher of such in the refrigerator, so may as well put some of it to good use."

"Why, thank you." Lincoln conveyed appreciatively.

She placed the glass on the table just right in front of Lincoln. He reached out, took a sip and right away he noted how sugary the taste was.

"Whoa, you weren't kidding about the 'sweet' part of it!" He remarked, having an upbeat tone in describing such as a result.

"Yeah, I might've put in just a little bit more sweetener than needed." Maria admitted while laughing a little, "That's usually what I do whenever I have tea. I'm something of a caffeine fiend, be it for tea, coffee, sodas, energy drinks and whatever else I can find. It's something that I feel I need a suitable supply of frequently given my line of work in nursing."

"Ah…" Lincoln simply said.

He took another sip of his tea and kicked back again, with Maria doing the same as well.

"You know…" Maria spoke up, "With mine taking it's time and you having touched on it a little earlier, might as well be worth asking how you went about trying coffee for the first time and how didn't turn out well."

Lincoln chuckled, "Well, there's actually kind of a silly story behind it. I'll set things up by first saying of what little you know about me, I betting you do know that I come from a pretty big family, most notably being the only boy surrounded by ten sisters. Because my family's size, we once had two separate tables for eating during dinnertime: a grown-up one for my parents and older sisters, and a kiddie table for me and my younger sisters. I'd gotten so sick of being at the kiddie table and I really wanted to be upgraded to the grown-up one, but I thought at first I had to prove how 'grown-up' I was in order to be there. As you've probably already guessed, one of those things was trying out coffee, something that all my older sisters already do, but alas, the taste was something that didn't work for me to the point that I spat it out and some of those same sisters of mine were unlucky enough to be covered with said spat out coffee, too."

"Oh my…" Maria said, stifling some laughter, "Bet they didn't exactly appreciate that, did they?"

"Yeah, you could probably say that…" Lincoln conceded embarrassingly, "But anyway, back to the whole table situation. I did manage to join the grown-up table, but it was so boring and I ended up wanting to return to the kiddie table. Heck, even my older sisters felt the same as well and they rejoined along with me. Eventually though, my parents decided to get a much larger dining table and more chairs so that we can sit together as one big happy family the way it should be."

As Lincoln had another sip of the tea, Maria couldn't help but smile. Listening to something as simple as dining table setups as a means of showing closeness within his family was oddly sweet. It sounded comparatively better in contrast to the more difficult situation her own family contends with these days. The contrast was enough for her smile to shift over into a frown, something that didn't go entirely unnoticed to Lincoln.

"Uh...Mrs. Santiago?" He inquired.

Maria turned over to him, "Oh...it's nothing, Lincoln. In fact, I do believe my coffee is just about ready, so I'll be right back."

She promptly stood up and went back over to the kitchen, leaving Lincoln a bit confused. His curiosity was raised slightly about what she might've been frowning over, but he tried not to make too much of a big deal around it and hoped it wasn't anything serious.

Eventually, Maria did return with a warm mug of coffee at hand. She sat back down and had a nice long sip of it, having practically a euphoric response immediately after.

"Ah...sweet coffee fix, work your magic…" Maria said dreamily.

She sighed and put the mug on the table in front of her, then she noticed Lincoln's strangely amused reaction to all of that.

"Well, like I said, I am something of a caffeine fiend…"

"I can see that…" Lincoln commented somewhat humorously.

Moving on, Maria wanted to continue of the discussion of the subject that had been touched on so far with regards to Lincoln's family life.

"So, what is it like having so many sisters if I may ask? Does it ever bother you being the only boy in the mix?" She asked.

"Well...to answer the second question first, no, it doesn't at all. If anything, in a sense I revel in being that singular male child. In fact, I'd bet that if you were to ask them, my sisters could very well agree that having even one brother makes for much needed variety in the family." Lincoln said confidently, "Now, as far as the amount of sisters goes, you can probably imagine that it gets chaotic at times, which it does. But at the same, I wouldn't want it any other way, because having such a big family means there's always some who has your back and vice versa. Also, as you may have gathered from me talking about the table situation a moment ago, I'm the exact middle child of the family. That puts me in the very unique position of both having five younger sisters who can look up to me and five older sisters that I can look up to. So all told, my family life can be full of chaos at times, but more importantly it's one filled with a whole lot of love and caring sentiment to go around."

Again, Maria couldn't help but show another smile, "Aw...well, that's very nice to hear."

As Lincoln too shared his own smile, he and Maria took a second to quench some thirst via their respective drinks and then continued their discourse, still sticking with the same overall topic.

"Hey, do you mind telling me more about your sisters?" Maria inquired, "I only really know a little bit about Lori based on what Bobby has told me, so am I curious about who they are and what they're like."

Lincoln grinned, "Sure, I can do that. That can make for a nice way to let the time pass on, and I believe a visual aid can be helpful in this case…"

He took a second take his phone out of his pocket, searched around and then showed Maria a fairly recent group photo of himself and all of his sisters together. To start things off in descending order from oldest to youngest, he pointed to the one sister Maria just admitted to knowing the slightest bit about.

"Okay, we first got Lori, who you just said that you know a little about, but I'll give you a bit more detail. She's oldest among the siblings at seventeen and she's essentially our leader because of it. Being that position can make her pretty bossy, but she really does mean well and does love looking out for us. Also, you probably won't find any Loud kid more attached to their phone than her. You'd almost think it's an extension of her body or something. She can be a bit insecure at times as well, but nevertheless she's someone with a good heart and is willing to do anything for us. Plus, she's a heck of a golfer, so add that to her positives, too. Oh, and loves saying the word 'literally' a lot, but I'm guessing that might also know that about her as well."

Not having much to add herself, again given that she knew some about Lori before, Maria let Lincoln move on to the next sister.

"Next, this is Leni, the second oldest at sixteen. If you ask me, she's easily the most naturally happy and sweetest among us. You can't help but feel similarly giddy whenever you're around her because of it. Occasionally, she can also be...how should I put it as nicely as possible...a bit on the airy side. But don't mistake that her being dumb, though. She is for instance the foremost expert on clothing and fashion of the family, such as what to wear with what or when, or the fact she can make new clothes out of old ones or any other sort of fabric like that. And also for what it's worth, she knows her way around lockpicking, too."

"Huh...you know, maybe I should talk to someone like her one of these days. I've thinking about giving my own wardrobe a bit of an upgrade. It has been so long since I've last gotten any new clothes, so maybe she could be of some assistance if ever possible." Maria said, then she got a little confused, "Also, did I hear you right? Lockpicking? Where in the world did she get that from and why?"

"Your guess is as good mine." Lincoln admitted with some mild laughter, "But I can guarantee you she'll never use that skill for any nefarious or unseemly acts or career choices, because like I said, she's pretty much the one with the biggest heart of the family."

Moving forward, he got to the next sister in line.

"Now, here we have Luna. She is fifteen and there is perhaps no one more befitting of the family name than she is. Just by looking at her, you can probably correct guess she's a huge fan of rock music. Next to our family, that's her biggest passion in life and if you were to ever hear her shredding, or playing if you will, on her guitar, you'll likely believe that is what she's destined to do. Yet believe it or not, she wasn't always like this. For example, in terms of her appearance, she used to have longer hair and her attire was decidedly more feminine in nature. But that all changed about three years ago after going to her first rock concert involving the man that became her idol, Mick Swagger."

"Did she now? You know, I remember during my college days that a couple of friends of mine at the time took me to a few shows of his whenever they occurred." Maria brought up.

Lincoln was surprised to hear that, "Whoa, really? I bet she'd really love to hear that at some point."

He took a quick sip of tea and went on further.

"Anyway, after that concert, Luna found her purpose in life and thus went over a near total transformation. Besides her looks, her personality also became anew. Her manner of speaking changed up, such as including a whole slew of rocker lingo and slang terms into her daily vocabulary, and she even drops the occasional song reference casually in conversation, too. Admittedly, she also can be too loud when performing music and she's also sort of aggressive if she wants to be, but both of those behavioral quirks are relatively rare, because she is otherwise such a cool, down to earth and very understanding, free spirited girl who I am proud to call one of my sisters."

Lincoln smiled and sighed contently, and he kept that demeanor while going on down the line to his next sister.

"All right, we move on now to Luan, and if you're wondering, her name is spelled L-U-A-N. I only bring that up because some people whenever they hear her name might think there's another 'n' and an 'e' when there isn't. On top of that, it's also worth mentioning that all my sisters' names have four letters in them. Anyway, she is fourteen and is the family's resident comedienne, prankster, joker, clown and whatever other terms worth mentioning meaning someone who loves making people laugh. She does it all when it comes to comedy including cracking jokes, making puns, engaging in stand-up routines, doing ventriloquist acts and performing at birthday parties. However, beware her on April Fools' Day, because she'll in an instant go from being a happy go lucky girl to this meticulous, plotting pranking mastermind where nothing and no one is off limits."

"You know, hearing you mentioning that just now, I think that I might be just the slightest bit familiar with her, too, the more I think about it." Maria said.

"Heh...maybe that's due to Ronnie Anne maybe telling you about that time recently when Luan set up a whole bunch of pranks around our house and I had to set them all off before Ronnie Anne could fall victim to any of them." Lincoln mentioned, nervously laughing.

"That's sounds about right. She must have a knack for finding good friends if one of them went to all those lengths for her." Maria said, giving said friend of her daughter sitting next to her a wink.

Lincoln bashfully rubbed his neck and blushed, then he resumed in speaking.

"So yeah, Luan can get a little crazy on that one day of the year, and sometimes her jokes can fall flat as well, but she really is very funny and comedy aside or actually even because of it, she's also very smart and insightful and generally speaking, she's like any other of my sisters in being caring, sweet and looking out for those around her."

Next, he went on the last of his older sisters.

"Here, this is Lynn. She's thirteen and is named after our dad, so she is officially named Lynn Jr. and is occasionally nicknamed 'LJ' as a result. Also like our dad, she loves sports, but she takes it as a passion unlike any other. Much like with Luna and music, Lynn and sports pretty much go hand in glove. You name a sport, she'll watch it, follow it and take part in them, be it casually or for real in either school or beyond. Her intensity in athletics also makes her the fittest and by far the strongest of the sibling group. However, sometimes as a direct result of being a sports fanatic, she can be overly competitive and hotheaded to an extent. Next to Lori and another sister we'll get to, she's probably the one who's bad side you _definitely_ don't want to be on the receiving end of."

Maria couldn't help but chuckle slightly over that little tidbit. Then, upon taking a closer look at this particular sister of Lincoln's, something stuck out to her.

"Hey, she is one of your older sisters, right?" She asked, "I'm only saying that because you and her don't seem really that different in terms of height."

"Yeah, she is and I don't blame you at all in being confused about that. It's the main reason in me being ultra technical in merely labeling her as my 'older sister' instead of using a phrase like 'big sister', which I would use instead for my other four older sisters since each of them are visibly taller than me. Despite our similar size, she does however refer to me as 'little bro' anyway." Lincoln explained, "And also, despite her aforementioned hotheadedness and such, she really does have softer side to her. She might not admit that out loud to anyone outside or our family, but trust me, it's the truth. Like each of my sisters, she's genuinely is a good person once you get to know her."

Having now finished going over his older sisters, Lincoln's natural next move was going to be introducing his younger sisters. However, something else just occurred to him that he may as well get out there beforehand.

"You know, Mrs. Santiago, even though you asked specifically about my sisters, I might as well tell you a bit about myself if you don't mind, since I am next in line in age and all." He posited.

"Sure, go right ahead. Makes sense if you ask me. I would actually like to know a bit more about you in any event." Maria said, following that up with a drink of coffee.

Lincoln followed suit with his beverage and took a few seconds to pick out exactly what he wanted to say about himself.

"Okay...so, I'm eleven and as I've already told you, I'm the only boy and smack dab right in the middle of the kids that make up my family. Some of my favorite hobbies include video games, anything relating to science fiction, watching my favorite TV show 'ARGGH!' and comic books, especially Ace Savvy. I have a best friend named Clyde McBride who likes all those same things as well. I'm also sometimes know around certain parts as the 'man with the plan' for my talents in coming with strategies over how to deal with whatever comes my way or along with my sisters. Let's see, what else...oh, I have white hair which I get from my grandfather or 'Pop Pop' as me and my sisters like to call him. That probably is what sticks out about me the most aside from being the sole boy, as otherwise the family is dominated by blondes and brunettes. Well, except for a certain someone else, which makes for a convenient segue…"

Getting straight to it without giving Maria the chance in commenting about him, Lincoln went at it to describing his younger sisters.

"To kick things off with my younger sisters, we have Lucy. She's eight and as I just implied, she's the only other one besides myself with different hair, which she was actually born with just like with my hair, and she was born with that unusual gray skin also in case you're going to ask. Her goth appearance isn't just for show, though, as it also displayed with her interests. She loves reading and poetry, particularly when it's about dark subjects or mythical creatures like vampires and werewolves. To add on top of that, she also has her own pet bat named Fangs and casually talks with a bust of a vampire named Edwin, who is also the main character in her favorite TV show 'Vampires of Melancholia'. One other odd quirk of hers is that she verbalizes certain words. Like for example, she'll literally say stuff like 'sigh', 'gasp' or 'groan' when expressing herself. With all that in mind, you could be under the impression she's this perpetually sad or depressed girl or something along those lines."

"Yeah, I was about to say something like that." Maria said, her face showing some concern, "I mean, she's not even smiling in this picture here. I hate to think she is someone who's dealing with any serious issues in her life. Not that I'm in any real position to diagnose such, since my field of health deals with injuries, diseases, viruses and other assorted physical and internal traumas, not with mental or emotional heath, and yet still I can't help but wonder..."

"Oh, don't worry, she's really not like that at all." Lincoln assured definitively, "Sure, she may come off as gloomy or emotionless sometimes, but again, not to sound like a broken record, she really is quite nice and caring like all my sisters. It's just a case of taking your time with her until she opens up more and reveals her true loving character."

He proceed on with the next pair of younger sisters.

"Might as well discuss these two at the same time given that they are twins. The one in the red hat and overalls is Lana and the one wearing the tiara and pink dress is Lola. They're both six and though they are twins, they're polar opposites beyond having widely differing clothing choices. Lana for example loves playing in mud, knows her way around plumbing and auto repair and admittedly does take part in some real gross stuff like rooting around and eating out of the trash. In Lola's case, she is something of beauty pageant powerhouse, takes her image perhaps the most seriously out of any of my sisters and because of both of those things, she also can get pretty bratty and angry. Yes, that does make her that other sister I mentioned aside from Lori or Lynn who you don't want to get on the bad side of. But as I've been saying with everyone else so far, beyond their drawbacks, these twins are very much the adorable sort."

After another brief replenishment of his parched self, Lincoln arrived to the second to last of his sisters.

"All right, now we turn our attention to Lisa. She is only four, but she is by far the smartest member of the family as a whole, let alone within the circle of myself and my sisters. She loves all things relating to science, conducts a whole bunch of different experiments and research, has her own PhD and…"

"Wait, what? Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but a PhD at only four years old?" Maria said bewilderingly, then she sort of laughed uneasily, "It took me years to get through medical school, but a girl who's at kindergarten age already has a PhD? I mean, don't misunderstand what I'm saying here, Lincoln, I'm not suggesting jealousy on my part, but...wow! She really must be exceptionally smart to accomplish that so early in her life."

Lincoln nodded, "Yeah, and if you were planning to ask me how she's that smart at her age, you're guess is as good as mine in all honesty. But anyway, pretty much anyone in my family who needs help with anything science related, she's our go to source for such. She also sometimes tutors me and my sisters on different sorts of schoolwork, which as she puts it occasionally is one of the parts about how being the family genius is both a blessing and a curse, neither of which she personally believes in. Speaking of which, if there's any downsides to Lisa's high intellect, it does lead her to sometimes become dismissive or cynical over certain ideas or subject if she views them being in conflict with science. As an extension of this, she'll even at times go as far as to say she doesn't recognize human emotion, but I'd advise you to not get too overly concerned about this. Like with Lucy, I think it's more of a case of her having challenges properly expression her emotion rather than trying to shut herself off altogether and I genuinely believe it's something she'll get better as she gets older."

At long last, Lincoln got to the final and youngest of his sisters.

"Finally, last but certainly not least, we have the baby of the family, Lily. She is a little over a year old, and with being a baby, there's not a whole lot I can say that differentiates her from other babies. The best I can give you is that for one, she can walk by herself a bit, though she generally still prefers crawling. She can also speak broken babyish utterances of me and my sisters' names, but overall her favorite words to say are 'poo-poo', which she'll say before, during, after or even when she isn't...uh, doing what those words obviously suggest. Without much else to say, I'll wrap up by saying that just like every single other one of my sisters, she's quite lovable all the same."

As he finally reached the conclusion, Lincoln put his phone away, got himself a solid gulp of tea, let out a long sigh and leaned back further into the couch.

"Whew...took perhaps a little longer than I anticipated, but there you have it. That's look into my sisters, the ten people who I hold dearest to me." He finished off proudly.

Maria smiled while she patted his shoulder, "Well, thank you very much for sharing all of that with me, Lincoln. They all sound like a wonderful and unique bunch, and I didn't mind at all how long it took you by the way. The fact you went into such detail with each of your sisters shows to me how much you love and care for them just like how you said at the end there."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Santiago." Lincoln said warmly, "And yeah, my family broadly speaking means so much to me."

For as much she tried maintaining that smile, Maria frowned for a second time. She tried downplaying it during the marathon presentation of his sisters and hated even making the comparison at all, but again, how big and generally happy Lincoln's family was like seeing an opposing reflection of the hardship and difficulty of her own family. Her louring expression was once more something Lincoln caught on and this time around, he wasn't going to simply let it go.

"Not to sound pushy, but is there something wrong, Mrs. Santiago?" He asked, becoming kind of worried.

Maria sighed, "Well…I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore. But first, if you'll excuse me yet again for a moment."

She got up and departed over down to the hall. When she came back, she had something in her hand.

"Since you put all that effort into talking about your family life, might as well do the same with mine a little, or at least, the one element missing currently."

Maria sat back down and handed Lincoln a framed photo. It featured herself, Bobby and Ronnie Anne, plus a bearded man he wasn't familiar with.

"Oh, is this Mr. Santiago?" He asked.

"Yeah, that would be Arturo...my ex-husband." Maria answered cheerlessly.

Hearing that, Lincoln could now understand her earlier reactions. It also explains from previous times whenever he hung out with Bobby or Ronnie Anne why they'd mention their mom, but almost never do the same with their dad. The subject must have been hard for them to discuss and understandably so.

"Huh, well…I'll say this much: he and Bobby sure have a strong resemblance to one another." Lincoln observed.

"I won't deny that. He certain did inherit his father's handsome features." Maria agreed, her disposition improving just slightly.

"Yeah...and actually, the more I look, I can say something similar between you and Ronnie Anne, too." Lincoln said, turning and giving Maria a smile, "Freckles aside on her part, she's inherited quite a bit of good from you."

"Is that what you really believe or are you just being a total flatterer to me for its own sake?" Maria couldn't help but speculate humorously.

Bashfulness became Lincoln's dominant behavior again, "Well...I wouldn't say something like that unless I thought it was true."

Regardless of intent or if he was saying such kind words to alleviate the mood knowing the direction that their conversation was headed, Maria gestured her own appreciation by patting his back a handful of times.

"That being said, though…" Lincoln began saying, his own diction getting worrisome, "I would hold back as to asking what happened between you and him, but given what you've said before and the fact you're showing me this in the first place, I guess you are comfortable talking about it with me."

Maria nodded gently, "Yeah, just about."

She took the picture back from Lincoln, put it aside and sighed deeply.

"Well, in the beginning, we were as happy as can be like many couples within their first few years of marriage and having two kids on top of that. But in only the past year, things just seemed to quickly fall apart. The usual disagreements and full on arguments about standard stuff like money issues, how our kids' futures will turn out and the like ensued, and it simply got to the point where we went from being inseparable to barely being able to be within each other's presence. As a result, about six months ago, we basically determined it was pretty much over between us and it's been myself, Bobby and Ronnie Anne since then."

Following another sigh, she looked back over to Lincoln.

"I'm sorry if that sounded like I gave a quick and dirty version of what went down, Lincoln, but it can be pretty hard for me to discuss in any event, even with someone I've become comfortable talking with such as yourself."

"Oh, don't apologize, Mrs. Santiago. I would've understood even if you chose not to bring any of this up at all." Lincoln assured her, "But since you have done so, just solely out of curiosity, does Mr. Santiago still live close by?"

"Unfortunately, no. He used to, but several weeks ago he went away to Peru as part of this whole team of physicians and researchers, and he's pretty much living there since then and I don't see him coming back for a very long time to come." Maria answered, "Still, despite the situation and how things ended between us, he talks to our kids as often as he can and even we've tried talking again, too. It can be something of a challenge, but it's better than pretending the other doesn't exist and to hold any sort of bitterness and resentment for too long, right?"

Her voice started to strain near the end and before long, she was also sniffling.

"But speaking of the kids...I don't think I could ask for anyone more supportive than those two. This whole situation between me and their father is totally unfair to them, and despite what I said about me and him arguing sometimes about their futures, they had almost nothing to do with us drifting apart. And also despite my own challenges of since becoming a single parent while still holding down the demanding job of being a nurse, not once have either of them complained about things. Yes, they wish their father was back in their lives and mine, but they hold no ill will against me or him for all that's gone on and they are also the single biggest reason I keep pushing forward myself. Even when I've been at my lowest and think I can't do this anymore, all it takes is the encourage of my precious Roberto and Ronalda, Bobby and Ronnie Anne to you, and I can truly get anything done."

In spite of some tears glistening in her eyes, Maria smiled over describing just how dedicated her kids were to her and same goes to them from her.

"I do wonder sometimes what I've done to deserve such unconditional support from them, though…" She added slightly more sadly.

But what she might not have seen coming next was for Lincoln to get up onto his knees on the couch and feel him put his arms around her.

"Maybe it's because you're such an incredible mom to them. Perhaps that's why they're willing to stick by you through thick and thin. They do speak of you so highly whenever you're brought up anytime I hang out with them, and in the time I've spent with you today so far, I'd say you deserve every bit of such praise and their everlasting support." He said sincerely.

Again, no matter if it was out of pure flattery or that's how he really viewed things, those words of Lincoln's meant the world to Maria and now she couldn't help but return the embrace from her end. She also didn't hold back releasing a few more of those tears forming within her eyes.

For close to a minute, they held each other without having or needing to say anything. But when Maria chose to pull back and after taking a quick moment to wipe down her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Lincoln's face and noticed he too had something of a glistening in his eyes now.

"Oh dear...I hope I didn't make you too sad having told you all that." Maria said worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Mrs. Santiago. It's not your fault." Lincoln tried in playing it down, "It just goes to show how much I sympathize with all you've been though and how I hope for the best."

He tried grinning to back up his words, then he sat back down and downed a gulp of his tea. In turn, that encouraged Maria to do the same with her coffee. But once she had done that, she took another glace at Lincoln and his face gave the impression something must be upsetting to him.

"You all right, Lincoln?" Maria inquired to him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Lincoln said with a small grin.

Unconvinced, Maria pressed him, "Are you sure? Because I have no issue with you telling me if there is something that's bothering you and I can try helping out, too. It's the least I can do after what you've done listening in on my family life and those kind words you said to me."

Though what exactly was bothering him might be seen as somewhat silly, Lincoln figured he couldn't exactly turn down her offer of assistance and may as well get it out there.

"Well...I have to admit that after hearing about how everything between you and Mr. Santiago ended, it made me wonder if the same could ever happen to my parents." He said.

Maria lightly gasped, "What? Why would you think that?"

Lincoln sighed, "I don't know...maybe I'm just speculating for no reason at all. I mean, it's not like I've seen or heard them fighting or arguing recently, and if there was or any other issues between them, I think me and my sisters would've know it by now. Yet still, and again it could only be due what you've talked to me about, but in the moment it's still something that does kind of scare me a little."

He shook his head while groaning.

"And as improbable as all that sounds, the scariest aspect of that ever happening would be that there's no way me and my sisters would all still be together. I can't possibly imagine my life without them…and that would terrify me to no end if any of them were gone due to such circumstances."

After getting all of that out there, he put his hands over his face in humiliation. He probably regretted bringing any of that up so suddenly and in front of someone who he only today just really gotten to know better.

"Sorry...maybe I shouldn't have brought that up…" He remarked after another sigh.

However, despite his own doubts, Maria moved over closer to Lincoln.

"Hey, it's okay, Lincoln." She told him softly, "I don't blame you at all. I think every kid at one point or another has a passing 'what if' thought about their parents splitting up and it can be very scary to think about it, no doubt."

Her maternal instincts couldn't help but kick in, she put an arm around him and used her other hand to gently move his hands away from his face, which in turn made him look up at her.

"Listen, I don't know your parents that much better than your sisters, but if the fact they have so many kids including you over the years and are still together as a result, I'd personally say is an excellent sign of how much they love each other. I can only imagine what the stress and financial burden of having eleven children could be like. But I bet that very same love for each other and definitely for you and your sisters, plus how you all must feel the same for them as well must be the driving force in keeping things going between them. So perhaps because of that, and your own admission that there doesn't sound like there's any trouble with them, I think you got nothing to worry about."

Like he thought before, Lincoln probably had no real reason to fret about his parents ever going their separate ways, but listening to Maria assure him on top of that helped a great deal, too. Without using any words, he showed his appreciation by letting his head lay along her shoulder and let out a relieved sigh. As a result of this, Maria could not help herself by bringing her other arm around him and holding him close to her.

"Hey, I'm not making you feel uncomfortable now, am I?" She asked after several seconds.

"Not at all." Lincoln replied while smiling, "Actually, this really does feel nice if I'm being totally honest."

Loving to hear that answer, plus the fact he reciprocated by hugging her back, Maria maintained her hold on him tenderly, even choosing to take the time in gently stroking the side of his head. Although they really only gotten to know each today, the level of depth in which they discussed their respective family lives made Maria feel like she's known Lincoln for years now and if the level of affection she was giving him at this moment was to say anything, it's almost like she treated him as if he was the Caucasian son she never had.

As this affectionate time was being shared, she took a glance of at a nearby clock.

"Gosh, has it really been an hour since you've arrived here?" Maria asked out loud.

"Wait, it has?" Lincoln wondered, "Huh, guess time really does fly by when you're making new friends."

"Yeah...I'd say so." Maria said, smiling widely and being touched by such a description.

Finally, they chose to break off their embrace.

"Speaking of time, are you expected to be back home anytime soon?" Maria wondered.

"Um, no, but I think that might still be a good idea nonetheless. You see, the whole purpose of me going on this walk of mine before coming here was to get a break from my home for a while. But since we spent the bulk of our time together talking about our families, I've actually gotten to miss being around mine already and I'd like to get back to them real soon. Guess the real benefit of our talk was to reinforce once again just how much my family means to me." Lincoln explained.

"Same here for me with mine." Maria simply said in reciprocation.

As Lincoln smiled over the shared sentiment they both had for their respective families, he took his glass and finished off the remainder of the tea within.

"Guess I should put this away before I go, right?" He said.

"Ah, don't worry about. I'll take care of it." Maria insisted.

With that, he simply left the glass on the table, got off from the couch and made his way over to the front door while Maria followed behind him.

"Hey, thanks for coming on over, Lincoln. I had a great time." She said warmly.

"Me, too, Mrs. Santiago." Lincoln returned in kind.

"Actually, you know what, since we really gotten along so well today, I don't think you need to be so formal anymore." Maria suggested, "Because of that, I'd say you've earned the privilege of simply calling me Maria from this point forward."

"Wow, really?" Lincoln said very surprised, "You sure you'd be okay with that? It's very rare that I ever refer to most adults I know by the first names."

"Yeah, but I bet you've never become friends with them like you've done with me so quickly." Maria pointed out with a smirk.

Lincoln couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah...I guess you're right."

He opened the front door and was almost about to head out on, but he felt Maria put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just before you go…"

She knelt down and hugged him again, something he did in return quite gladly. But after Maria pulled back, she took Lincoln off guard when she gave him a nice, big kiss right on his cheek.

"Whoa...what was that for?" He asked with some nervous laughter and some blushing.

Maria smiled, "Just for being a nice conversational partner...and good listener...and just for being great kid all around. Your parents and sisters are lucky to have you around."

Lincoln chuckled some more, "Yeah...and I'm lucky to have them, too."

Finally, he turned around and began leaving, though he did look back over one more time.

"I'll see you around hopefully very soon again...Maria. Bye"

"Bye, Lincoln." Maria said with another smile.

With that exchange, Lincoln began the walk home while Maria closed the door. Just he was almost out of sight, he paused, looked back over again and shared a wave with her as she looked out the window.

"Well, that was surely an unexpected way to spend an afternoon." She said to herself with a happy sigh, "But a very pleasant one in any event."

**Author's Note:**

> *Big deep long happy sigh*
> 
> ...that about says all I'd say. But I do have a couple other thoughts...
> 
> First, I don't think Maria would ever really refer to her kids as "Bobby" or "Ronnie Anne" herself that often if at all, but I'd figure if she was conversing with someone who only knew them as such, she'd probably adapt in such a case. I wouldn't imagine anyone raising any issue with that, but I wanted to explain my thinking behind it anyway.
> 
> Second, some might also note that when Lincoln was talking about his sisters and himself, he appeared to conveniently not mention any flaws or drawbacks of his own like he did for them before ultimately emphasizing what great people they all are. That was not intentional on my part and I suppose I just didn't think through a manner of how or if he could do that. Or you just say that if you were in his position, you wouldn't really go out of your way to mention your flaws to someone you've just started getting to know, whichever. At least perhaps not until you been around them for a longer period of time.
> 
> Okay, that's all for now. Again, a huge everlasting thank you for reading and all in between. Until the next time, see you around!


End file.
